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When I was a kid, I would always lie to get out of trouble. The majority of the time the lie would get me into more trouble than I was facing at first. My dad would always tell me ” If you would’ve told me the truth to start with you wouldn’t be as much trouble as you are in now”. I would always roll my eyes and think “yeah right”. Somewhere in LA Josh Shaw was rolling his eyes too.

We recently heard a story about how USC CB Josh Shaw heroically saved his little cousin from drowning by jumping from a two story balcony, crawling to the pool, and magically slivered in and pulled his cousin to safety.

Wait a minute…

First I thought, a 7 year old in California can’t swim? How can you swim with two broken ankles? Is that even possible? The kid was alone at an apartment pool in the summertime? How’d he get out of the pool? There were plenty of questions. I put them all to rest because if the media reported it then it must be true right? I mean the media said Manti Teo had a girlfriend so of course they’re super credible.

But here we are on August 27th and the truth comes out. Josh Shaw lied. Josh Shaw was fleeing a burglary. Josh Shaw is an idiot. Now this is what I have a problem with. He didn’t have to lie. As college football fans we are well aware of how legal misconduct is handled when it pertains to high profile athletes. Theres a huge uproar, the athlete in question apologizes, the police commissioner gets box seats for the next home game, athlete gets slap on the wrist, we forgot about it. Apparently, Josh Shaw hasn’t been in touch with national media for the past decade. You big dummy.

If he had told the truth he would have only received a slap on the wrist. Might have been suspended for a few games and then boom he’s back with a vengeance and redeeming himself on and off the field. Instead Josh Shaw is suspended indefinitely from all football activities. Now his integrity is about as broken as Paul George’s leg and maybe his D-1 football career. We always say “innocent until proven guilty” but we also say “once a liar always a liar”. Capitan no mas for Josh.

There’s a valuable lesson to be learned in this. Only break into apartments on the first floor.

Earlier this evening Missouri Tigers DE Michael Sam announced that he is homosexual. This is the first high profile NCAA player to “come out”. I applaud Sam’s courage in announcing who he really is to the world and I pray that his team mates continue to support him through the tough times ahead.

The downside to this is that Michael Sam is also declaring for the NFL Draft and unfortunately this may affect his draft stock. NFL locker rooms are borderline homophobic which is somewhat appalling given the homoerotic behavior exhibited in most locker rooms. NFL executives may be wary of bringing in a player in fear of the retaliation or other issues that may be awaiting the soon to be NFL rookie. Especially given the fallout after the Jonathan Martin ordeal. This coupled with Sam’s less than stellar performance in Mizzou’s bowl game is definitely going to affect his draft stock.

But any who, congratulations to Sam for having courage enough to be who he really is in spite of all that may befall him. Michael Sam is a Tiger and regardless of the orientation of his stripes, he’s still a Tiger. Hopefully, sooner than later, everyone will see it that way.

This game was ridiculous from start to finish. Jordan Matthews played grown man football in this one. Without a doubt one of the most heartfelt performances that you will see from a college athlete. Matthews finished the game with 10 receptions 178 and a pass that bounced off his hands and cost his team the game. He literally left it all on the field after this hit.

GIF courtesy of SB Nation

Tonight what you saw is the importance of a team effort. These Rebels rolled together.

None came up bigger than Jeff Scott who broke off a 75 yard touchdown run with 1:07 left to play in the game putting the Rebels up for good in what was one of the best games I’ve seen period. And it’s only week one.

Ole Miss Head Coach Hugh Freeze starting his career at Ole Miss with a splash. Freeze channeled his inner Stonewall Jackson and lead the rebels to victory last night against Vandy. This game is truly a testament to the adage “it isn’t how you start, it’s how you finish”. Whatever he told his team at halftime worked. The Commodores started the 3rd quarter up by 17. The rebels methodically erased that lead. One drive was dominated by freshman WR Laquon Treadwell, the #1 ranked wideout in last years recruiting class. Another drive marked by QB Bo Wallace orchestrating the read option like a savvy veteran. Led by their ground attack, the Rebels scored 29 points in the second half on the way to victory.

What we can take away from this game is that Ole Miss’ recruiting class is as good as advertised and in the years to come they will be a force to be reckoned with. Their freshmen left their mark on this game. Hugh Freeze and company might not win a SEC title this season but they might surprise some people.

James Franklin offense lacks creativity and his defense lacks consistency. Jordan Matthews is the real deal but Vandy as a team. OVERrated. If they want to succeed somebody might want to step up so Carta-Samuels won’t stare him down every play.

Philadelphia Eagles and former Florida Gator wideout Riley Cooper was caught on tape at a Kenny Chesney concert saying ” I will fight ever nigger here”. At first thought we are all like woah Riley. Not cool. But is Riley Cooper a racist? That’s a clown question bro.

Riley Cooper is drunk, white, and stupid; obviously. He was also around “his own”. He felt comfortable and he let the word fly. Riley Cooper played for the University of Florida, a team filled with minorities. Granted Gainesville’s population isn’t the most diverse but the locker room he spent most of his time in was full of black people. If he was racist then i’m sure he would have committed to Minnesota or something like that.

He has already issued an apology to all his black team mates. ( Cause those are the only black people that matter to Riley ) Michael Vick accepted his apology. Now it’s not okay that he did it but let’s accept his apology and move on. Race is such a polarizing issue so I doubt the fanatics will let it go.

This is a very progressive world we live in. Let’s keep it that way. Want proof. I’m a fucking Vols fan defending a Gator. Go figure.

I was reading Of The Wings Of Atalanta by W.E.B. Dubois the other day when I get a notification from the score center app saying that Ed Reed signed with the Texans. Then the Bears tell Brian Urlacher he is asking for too much money. It is crazy how those Golden Apples corrupt us huh Atalanta? Ed Reed is one of the main reasons that the Ravens have either one of their super bowl rings. Ed Reed has been more productive than any Ravens player in the last decade; including Ray Lewis. Ed Reed has sacrificed several million dollars to remain with the Ravens all these years and now at the tail end of his career they tell him they’re deciding to go in another direction.

Then you have Brain Urlacher. He is an eight time pro bowler. Was rookie of the year. Won defensive player of the year. After 1,294 tackles and 41.5 sacks the Bears are telling Urlacher that he is asking for too much money. The same Urlacher who kept the team together through the whole Lance Briggs ordeal. The one who took them to the Super Bowl. He’s no longer good enough to be a Chicago Bear. Urlacher is Chicago football. But I guess the face of your franchise is only worth 2 million a year.

Players like Ed Reed and Brian Urlacher sacrifice so much to remain with one team because thats part of their character. That loyalty to the organization that gave them an opportunity. There were years when the Ravens and the Bears were trash and had ample opportunity to leave but they didn’t.

This is becoming a trend in the NFL. The Patriots are notorious for doing it. Randy Moss becomes the model citizen for your franchise. Breaks several records and you just let him go. The Colts cut Peyton Manning when he made their organization what it is. The Cardinals let go Adrain Wilson. The Ravens traded Anquan Boldin. And let me tell you without Boldin, Flacco would not have looked nowhere near as good as he did this season. Boldin’s ability to go up and get the ball made Flacco look amazing. And it’s not like these guys replacements are going to more productive than they were.

It just baffles me how it is okay for the team to let a player go and we chalk it up to a business decision but when a player in his prime leaves his team for more money elsewhere he is crucified as greedy and selfish. It’s never just business then. It seems like loyalty is fading and fast but maybe it’s just me. What do you guys think?

LB Shawne Merriman most known for his lights out celebration dance is calling it quits. He announced his retirement earlier today. I’m not going to go into his stats in such because i’m not very familiar with them. I do know at the start of his career we knew that he was the second coming of Junior Seau and maybe the next L.T. just light skinned. Somewhere in there he lost a step. First he had the steroid allegations. After that he hurt his knee. Got waived by the Chargers and never got his swagger back. He had a season ending achilles injury and that might have taken the fight out of him.

Whatever the case may be, Merriman left us with great memories, great hits, and a lights out dance that I demonstrated to my girlfriend and had her looking at me like a mental patient. He was one of the most exciting defensive players during his time and it’s crazy more people don’t know who he is. We know Priest Holmes still remembers. But best of luck to you in your future endeavors Shawne. Lights Out for good.

Most notably we heard about Manti Teo’s imaginary girlfriend. This story gets more and more hilarious every time something new comes out. Apparently Manti Teo had a girlfriend who he never met. Which is weird considering he was the star player on the number one team in the nation. I highly doubt that there was a shortage of females in South Bend pursuing him. It’s a huge lie. He got caught and now he is trying to do damage control. This truly sounds like something only Olivia Pope could fix. Manti’s draft stock plummeted after he pulled a disappearing act in the BCS Championship game. After this fiasco here I would have him late 3rd round, early 4th. From what I here, his measurables aren’t all that great and given this embarrassing situation I doubt he wants to go to the combine and face the ridicule from his peers.

The Lakers are 17-25 and Kobe Bryant has been very vocal about the team struggles. The coach is horrible for the team to begin with. They have two ailing big men with limited mobility. Both Pau and Dwight on the floor at the same time create serious spacing problems especially considering Dwights limitations. They obviously don’t want to play for this coach as we can see the lack of consistent tenacious play. Steve Nash has not been anywhere near effective as we though. Dwight has been close to non existent. His numbers aren’t too much lower than his career average but his impact has been minimal in just about every game. He whines and complains about the team but I haven’t seen him take any type of initiative to get the team back on track. I say trade Pau, trade Dwight.

Speaking of trading superstars the New York Jets have been shopping around All Pro cornerback Darrel Revis. Revis has been the only consistent high performer on the defense so I am not understanding this move at all. The Jets are a joke. Rex Ryan is a joke. The owner is a joke. The owner came out and said that Tim Tebow was forced on him. You go out and trade for a player that you don’t give an opportunity to win you games. That is crazy. Tebow may not have the tangibles but he wins. Sanchez throws interceptions and McElroy holds on tight to his Crimson Tide glory days because he’ll never see success at this level.

The Ravens and the 49ers are in the Har-Bowl. Colin Kapernick has an amazing story. It’s kind of like Willie Beamin, any given sunday, ish. Or how the dude replaces boobie miles in Friday Night Lights. The whole fiasco itself is interesting. God has Ray Lewis on his side or does Ray Lewis have God on his side? I’m not sure but I don’t blog about murderers. I’ll take the Ravens. Bernard Pollard has been channeling Bernard Hopkins and his nickname because he has been the executioner these past few weeks. Ravens 30-17